Telangana Govt awaiting report of committee on absorption of TGSRTC staff: Transport Minister

The State Government is awaiting the report of the Committee constituted to study the modalities of absorption of the employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC).

The Government has enacted the TGSRTC (absorption of employees into Government service) Act, 2023 providing for absorption of the employees into the Government services. “A decision is to be taken by the Government on declaration of the appointed day at an appropriate time,” Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said.

Replying to queries during the Question Hour in the Legislative Assembly on Monday (March 23, 2026), the Minister said the Corporation had not procured any electric buses so far and a total of 940 e-buses were in operation in the TGSRTC. These buses were taken on wet-lease under the Gross Cost Contract model.

There was no insecurity to jobs of the in service employees of the Corporation on account of induction of the electric buses. The Corporation achieved a profit of ₹590.3 crore during the financial year 2024-25 and ₹954.86 crore during 2025-26 up to February this fiscal.

Smart Cards to Mahalakshmi beneficiaries

The Minister informed that the Government had decided to introduce chip-based smart cards for beneficiaries under Mahalakshmi free bus travel scheme. The data of the beneficiaries was being collected from various sources like Telangana Technology Services, Centre for Good Governance, Self Help Groups, Education and Health department. The quantum of revenue earned by the TGSRTC under the scheme was ₹1,163.07 crore in 2023-24 and ₹4,122.79 crore in 2024-25.

Retrofitting diesel/petrol autorickshaws

Responding to a query, the Minister said the Government was contemplating to bring a plan to retrofit diesel/petrol autos by providing assistance to improve their income. In all, 65,000 additional permits were given for autos in Core Urban Region (CURE) area to increase the income of auto drivers. He, however, evaded reply to a question on the time by which the Government would implement its promise of providing annual financial assistance of ₹12,000 to auto drivers. “The details are under examination,” he said.